[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by Ron99

Personally I think it is irresponsible to not get vaccinated when we face a global pandemic. Doubly so if you are a health care or emergency service worker. Imagine if huge numbers of people were paranoid about the smallpox vaccine and didn't get their shot?

+1

Originally Posted by Ian

I realise that some risk is involved in getting the shots(s) but nearly every medical procedure has some risk. The risk to myself, my family, and my students is far greater should I contract H1N1. I know I have ben exposed already and will be multiple times inthe upcoming months. How could I live with myself if I passed a bug that killed a child.
While I do feel that a media frenzy is making this seem worse than it truly is, from everything I have read this flu is a killer far beyond the normal seasonal flu's that come around yearly. it has been followed for nearly 50 years and is not new.

+1

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Hesitant to weigh on this one because I don't think the debate will ever end, people will want to believe what they want to believe and that's really the end of it, isn't it ..

I don't always get my flu shot every year. Sometimes I get flu, sometimes I don't. FWIW, I got my H1N1 shot already on Monday. Had sore arms for most of yesterday, other than that I still appear to be here this morning, at least for now.

This is what I think people need to consider:
- H1N1 is different from other flu's in that otherwise healthy people are dying from it, and not just the usual high-risk groups (infants, eldery, infirm, or otherwise compromised people). Ordinary, average, HEALTHY people are dying from it. Yes, not many, but that's not the point. The point is it's targeting different people.
- If the people who have died, would not have died had they been vaccinated, then does that not favour vaccination?

Don't listen to arguments like "I work in the health care industry and I'm not getting it" (or for what it's worth, arguments like "I work in the health care industry and I am getting it"). Good for you for whatever industry you work in, but it doesn't matter as that's totally irrelevant. That's like me saying "I write software for a living and I don't have any antivirus on my PC."

Do your own research.

To me it is about prevention and risk mitigation. That's part of the problem facing the health-care crisis right there: too many people think in terms of "oh well, if it happens, we'll just deal with it" instead of focusing on prevention, in general.

Peace...

Well said Tony, this sums it up perfectly for me. I plan on getting my shot for H1N1 on friday.